Sealing the Curse
by thechocowhore
Summary: Takes place in the 2 years that Naruto is gone. Anko's curse seal starts to act up and who else to help her stop it than Kakashi?
1. Chapter 1

Part One

Anko's POV

'_Anko.' That familiar, cold voice called out to me. 'Anko, I know you're here.'_

'_What do you want with me?'_

'_Join me. My army needs a person like you.'_

_Fear struck through me. 'NO! Never again will I follow you!' I screamed back to the haunting voice, but I was left in the empty void._

'_You _know_ I could always make you. Why don't you come to me and save your pride?' He said convincingly. It took all my power to break the trance he had put on me._

'_There is no pride in following someone like you!'_

'_I didn't want to do this, but…' I imagined what he would do if he were there. He would look away sympathetically but it was an act; his evil smile would be full of anticipation._

_A jolt of pain surged from my left shoulder. The curse mark was pulsing with angry chakra that was just waiting to break loose. I screamed in agony._

I woke up panting, sweat covered my body. My body trembled in fear. There was no doubt in my mind that Orochimaru had found a connection into my subconscious. I wouldn't betray my village on purpose, but could it be that my very being was still putting everyone in danger?

My eyes glazed over to the alarm clock on my bedside table. The glowing red numbers read 3:34 AM. Most likely, everyone in Konoha was still asleep. I glanced around my bedroom. I was alone. Sluggishly, I moved my body out of bed and started the shower. Warm water bounced off of me and all the muscles in my body released all the tension. It felt like every nerve was a livewire, but contrarily, my body was left in the fuzzy feeling of burned adrenalin. The hormone faded and the rapid pulse shifted back to normal. If only there was a way to slow down my mind. My fears kept spilling over like a waterfall, drowning me in doubt. The water turned cold and I stepped out of the shower. I slipped into my bathrobe and headed towards the dresser. I had gone about five steps, and then I collapsed to the floor, feeling the burns pulsing again, trying to break free of whatever was holding them back. But I felt that was going to break soon. The burn was getting hotter like a branding iron that wouldn't cool. I felt like there would be scars after this. More screams were let out as the fire sped up quickly through my body then died down. As it left, I could feel my eyes grow heavy and my head go light as I passed out.

A pounding on the door barely woke me from my dead slumber. I wasn't awake enough to see who, but someone was carrying me. Was it Orochimaru's followers abducting me? Is this what he meant by me not having a choice? I had no energy left in me to struggle; only a couple of muffled words were able to be spoken.

"Don't worry. I'm just going to take you to Lady Tsunade. Anko, you're going to be just fine." That voice was so familiar. I knew this person from somewhere but my mind just couldn't connect the pieces. Instead, it just shut down and I slipped back into the darkness.

"Anko?"

"Anko!"

"She's waking up, everyone back up!" A strong voice commanded. The Hokage? She was here? But, where was here? I woke up in total disorientation. How did I get into a hospital bed? Lady Tsunade was looking at her clipboard, and my eyes glazed around the room. Sakura, Ibiki, and Kakashi were all standing against the wall. Ibiki was watching me with careful eyes while Kakashi was lazily reading one of his Icha-Icha books… the perv. "Anko, how are you feeling? Dizzy, confused, hungry… anything?"

"Umm… why the hell am I in the hospital?"

"Well, your paperwork seems to be fine." She shown a light in my eye. "No head injuries that we know of."

"Lady Tsunade, I need to speak with you alone," I told her. Tsunade nodded and sent them out of the room. When everyone left, I told her about Orochimaru's connection to me and what he had said. She responded with a couple of nods and told me to stay in bed while she went to go check on something. But I could see through her words- there was worry in her eyes.

Minutes passed by and she finally returned with Kakashi. She explained how he was going to seal the curse mark and hopefully that would break the connection. I hoped they were right.


	2. Chapter 2

Part Two

Kakashi's POV

So here I was again. It had only been six months since I had sealed Sasuke's curse mark. The dark room hadn't changed much, but it had an eerie darkness that still lingered from the last time. Anko sat in front of me, kanji written in blood red ink all over her back and front. I could tell she was trying hard not to lose her composure, but she didn't look that much better than when I found her huddled in a ball on the floor.

"So I guess we should get started," she said in a quiet monotone. That threw me off. Anko was always one to put emotion into her words. What had Orochimaru done to her? I followed her wish and did my hand signs.

"Curse Sealing jutsu," I said as I placed my right hand on the curse mark. Light glowed from her shoulder. I hated inflicting more pain on her, but hopefully this would work and she wouldn't have to deal with the pain again. She tensed as the red characters climbed up her body. Then, something strange happened. The letters began pouring out of the seal! WHAT? The curse mark wasn't reacting well to the sealing jutsu. The letters ran all over her body and the curse mark kept. It was something I had never seen before.

I used my left hand to uncover my Sharingan. I could sense another dark power controlling the jutsu. I sent a surge of chakra to both my hands and placed them on her shoulder. The fight for dominance was difficult. I had to find away to stop this. The only way to get Anko out of the shock of pain… was to shock her? No, there had to be a less drastic way to snap her out of Orochimaru's trap. But we had no time. If we waited for help, he might completely corrupt her.

"Chidori!" As blue sparks pulsated through my hands into her, Anko arched her back in pain. But the letters were now sinking into the seal and it closed. It worked. The last of the electricity left her body, crackling less and less, and I picked her up in my arms again. This reminded me too much of this morning. It was horrifying find her like that, and I don't think I'll ever get the image out of my head for as long as I live. Flashes of this dark morning flooded into my head.

_I was walking down the stairway of the apartment building, on my way to the Hero's Monument Stone. Passing her apartment building, I heard bloodcurdling screams. I grabbed a kunai and ran up the stairs to where the screams where coming from. I got to the door and silence greeted me. The door was locked, but with enough force I got it open. And there she was in a heap, passed out. Her wet hair left in a mess on the floor. I picked her up and could hear her whimpers. I tried to calm her down, but she went out for good this time._

But that was earlier. She wasn't passed out now. We were back at her apartment. I was making tea for her while she sat on the couch, the T.V. playing softly in the background. I brought the two mugs filled with green tea over to where she was. If anything, she was more anxious and jumpy now that she was when fully awake and alert. She couldn't keep still, like every movement was under her radar.

"Anko," I tried calming her again. In a rapid move, she turned around and her eyes snapped up to mine as I sat down next to her.

"Kakashi, I know you're gonna say I'm overreacting, but I'm not." Fear colored her eyes.

"I wasn't going to say that. You have the right to be frightened by this. Anyone would."

"He's never been in my head like this," she shook her head as if he was there now and she was trying to get him out, "Why can I face him head on in person, but be so frozen to him when he's trying to get inside my head?" Anko's head dropped and she started crying.

"Because you are a good person. You would rather die defending your village than be the cause of its destruction. Anko," I stared at her, wanting to comfort her but not knowing how. I was never the touchy-feeling kind of guy. The only solace I could give her was an awkward arm-around-the-shoulder like hug. That did it. Anko smiled half heartedly.

"Thanks Kakashi." She took a sip of her tea. "It's good to know that I have guys like you watching over me."

"Anytime," I replied. We talked of familiar things like movies and missions. Once in a while I'd hear her sniffle a shaken breath as she tried to steady herself, but I knew Anko was not one to let herself wallow in tears forever. As the hours passed, I decided my time was up and that I should leave her. Anko stared at me with wide eyes.

"You're leaving me?" she said with disbelief in her tone. "What if he comes back? What if something happens? I don't want to be alone." She whispered the last part.

"I guess I could," I replied, "stay here… I guess."

At my apartment, I changed into a pair of pajamas and grabbed toothbrush, and my new Icha-Icha novel on the way out. She offered me her room to make up for the inconvenience, but I told her I'd feel more comfortable on the couch. She didn't argue and left me to change. I laid out the blanket and fluffed the pillow I would be using for my stay. Anko walked out of the bathroom in shorts, a tee and the robe I had found her in this morning.

"That bathroom's yours and you can grab anything out of the kitchen if you get hungry. I'm kinda tired so I'm gonna go to bed. I'm pretty much running on vapors."

"Ok… goodnight."

"Goodnight, Kakashi." And she turned around and closed the door behind her.


End file.
